A review by sockielady
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah Macdonald

3.0

I almost gave up on this book after the first couple chapters because I found the author to be extremely arrogant and cynical during those chapters. I'm very glad I gave it another chance, though, because after those first few chapters, the author's culture shock wears off and she mellows out a great deal, becoming much more pleasant in the process. Once the author accepts life in India for what it is, she decides to explore the many different religions and spiritual paths that coexist in India. She gives very realistic descriptions of how both normal Indian citizens and Western spiritual pilgrims live and practice their various religions on a day-to-day basis, and she even manages to find something of personal value in each religion/spiritual path she explores. Don't expect this to be a course in Comparative Religion 101, however -- the author assumes that her readers are at least passingly familiar with the major religions she explores (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity), and only provides background info on the lesser known religions, such as Jainism, Zoroastrianism, and Sikhism.